Potential solutions to our current energy and transportation concerns are often split into two camps: behavioral change and technological change. As with most things, the likely outcome will probably be some combination of the two (if we do actually achieve a solution at all).
On the technological front, Google recently announced its experiments with a robotically-controlled car that it claims could help solve safety, land use, energy consumption, and personal time management issues. In other words, it pulled out quite a card. They’ve already used to car to drive, automatically, from Google’s headquarters in Mountain View, California to Hollywood, navigating the notoriously windy and narrow Pacific Coast Highway.
I want to share with you three videos. The first is from this great New York Times piece covering Google’s announcement. The second shows video of the car in action. The third, however, offers some fuel for thought. This video comes from 1958 when Disney imagined what the future of transport might be like; it’s got some surprising elements of similarity to Google’s advance.